Cast cutting device



Aug; 22, 1950 c. E. WAXLAX CAST CUTTING DEVICE Filed Nov. 6; 1945 INVENTOR.

CH57E MIA/u;

Arrow/5n Patented Aug. 22, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAST CUTTING DEVICE Chester E. Waxlax, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application November 6, 1945, Serial No. 626,990

5 Claims.

My invention relates generally to surgical casts used inhealing broken bones and more particularly to a device for removing these casts without injury or inconvenience to the patient.

The present application is a continuation-in- 577,007, filed FebruaryQ, 1945, now abandoned, and entitled Cast Cutting Device.

I-Ieretofore the conventional practice in removing casts has been to employ large shears or other cutting tools not integrally bonded to or positioned in the cast and hence awkward to handle and liable to gouge or cut the patient, so that he very often experiences more pain from the removal of the cast than from the broken bone. Furthermore, these prior art devices have usually been cumbersome and expensive and not universally adaptable.

The major object of my invention is to provide a cast cutting device which is simple to operate and which can be used for all types of casts irrespective of the part of the body embraced therein.

' A further object of my invention is to provide 7 a device of this character which becomes embedded in the castso' that it becomes an integral part thereof and consequently is immediately available for use.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a cast cutting means adapted to be included within a surgical cast and to be positively positioned therein and which hasrsuflicient flexibility thatit can be readily formed around joints or other curves necessitated in the cast, in which position it will operate successfully without danger of injury to the patient.

An additional object is to provide cast cutting means which produces a clean, uniform cut of small dimension so that the cast may be placed .back on the limb and secured together again.

. Still another object of my invention is the provision of a novel fiexible blade which is particularly effective where relatively hard casts are employed.

These and other objects of my invention will. become apparent from the following description .of a preferred form thereof and by reference to accompanying drawings, in which: 1 Fig. l is an elevational, partially sectioned view of a human foot encased in aplaster cast in in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. '2 taken after the cutting device has been operated to sever the cast;

Fig. i is a perspective sectioned view showing the cutting device prior to its being embedded in the cast;

Fig. 4a is an enlarged cross section of one form of cutter employed taken on the line Act-4a in Fig. i; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the protective strip which is employed in the cutting device.

In general, my invention contemplates means housing a flexible blade in a cast which may be operated in saw-like fashion to sever the cast without injury to the patient. The cast is formed on the body overlying the cutting device which is thus embedded in the cast. When it is desired to remove the cast, the blade is merely reciprocated longitudinally in the passage with a conventional sawing motion until it has cut up through the cast to sever the same.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate a preferred form of my invention, and particularly to Fig. 4 thereof, it will be seen that numeral 9 indicates a base strip or layer of. adhesive tape of the usual surgical variety disposed with its adhesive face uppermost. Upon the upper face of tape 9 is a flat flexible flesh protective strip ill, preferably of metal or other abrasion resisting material, which adheres to the upper face of the tape 9. A blade receiving passage centrally disposed along the upper face of protective strip I0 is formed by punching and bending up a series of guide ears ll alternately disposed along the sides of the passage. The ears H form continuous guiding means or housing for a blade 52 held therebetween and are preferably of arcuate cross-section in order that the faces adjacent the blade shall present a gliding surface to the moving blade to thereby prevent damage to the latter, or its catching on sharp edges of the ears H during operation. The passage formed between the guide ears I i is covered with a layer l3 of crinoline, surgical gauze, or a similar fabric which is painted with a moistureproof solution of adhesive material such as collodion, thus to prevent the plaster used in forming the cast from entering and obstructing the passage. The stiffness of the upstanding ears H is such as to prevent crushing of the housing formed thereby due to pressure of the applied castmaterial. The fabric layer l3 extends beyond the edges of the adhesive tape 9 so as to insure positive binding with a, plaster cast [4 which is formed thereon. This adhesive and moisture-proof layer serves the additional purpose of bonding all the element-s together into an integral unit comprising protective strip l0, adhesive tape 9, and gauze strip Hi.

The passage formed above the upper surface of protective plate It] carries a thin blade l2 preferably twisted to have helical edges and mounted therein fOl longitudinal movement, the relativesizes of the blade and passage and the alternate disposition of guide ears I I being such, however, that while the blade can be readily moved longitudinally of the passage, it will not slide out of its own Weight.

While I may form the blade l2 of a single twisted strip similar to those used in the previous art for surgical saws and thelike, I prefer in order to provide a blade having greater strength and better cutting qualities to form it of two strips placed fac toface, having beveled and i i's'heared edg'es and twisted so that the'e'dges follow a helical curve as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The beveling of the edges is best seen in Fig." 4a.

fThefbla'de'ITisflexible' soi that it follows the pro- "tectiv'e' strip assembly above described, and can bebent around curves of relatively small radii "sucn as bent elbows, knee joints'or the like. The "ability of'the'deviceto conform to both concave -ftr'ated in Figi'l." Itwill be 'apparentfhowever,

and convex body contours is particularly illusthat the metal strip 10 and the fabric layer 53 cemented thereto provides an adequate protec- -"-'ftive' bearingsur'face' and guidepassage for the blade l2 in all positions of use.

""Re'ferrin'g now to Figs. 1', '2, and 3, the numeral 'ftiindicates 'a foot which is to be encased in a "ease'a' d the numeral I 4 indicates a cast formed 'tliereoniby any suitable method, such, for examgauze and plaster, plasawegl ior anexamination. Such an operation 'fequiis theuse of two or more cutting devices 'e'rice' o'f'th' cast as will be described herein. Iif'th "case"showii in Fig. 1, it is desired to cut therein M into two lateral half portions for ifenioval from the foot I5. Toaccomplish this,

-" "'two 'cutting assemblies are used-one in front aifd' one infback of thefoot as shown.

Q S ctively.

":Irij:the use of my device, two assemblies as shown in Fig.4 are placed upon the limb l5, as seen best in Fig. 1, and the first layer of bandage nan dlplaster iswrapped around the'limb in con- .3 j 'ventional manner.

The plaster will of course dhere to the overlying fabric cover layer l3 of h assembly, which becomes impregnated with plaster, thus making the cutting devices inltegral' parts of the plaster cast itself. The cast 4 is then built up in usual manner until the q uired thickness is obtained, it being noted that" theflse'ctions of cutting device integrally v embedded in the cast are somewhat longer than e cast so as to leave two ends [6 and I! of each ass en bly extending beyond the ends of the cast.

hese' en ds are then bent back over the cast rid/preferably held in place by suitable means, ch'as strips of adhesive tape I8 and I9, re-

When it is desired tofremove the cast M, the end jlfi and I! of each cutting device are bent 1 babkto substantially their original position, and

able handles are fastened to the blade so that 'ir' en be pulled in either direction. By then laced" at appropriate points around the cir- 1w cuiiif 4 sawing the blade back and forth, while at the same time maintaining an outward pull thereon with respect to the cast, the blade cuts up through the cast, starting at the ends thereof and working toward the center to produce a out such as indicated by the numeral 20 in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the cut 20 is relatively small and regular so that, if desired, the cast may be put back together again.

It will be apparent, of course, that if it is desired to form a large cast having a considerable area in which it is desired to subsequently form 'an observation window, a plurality of the cutting' devices shown herein may be embedded in ends Of the various blades outlining the window a'rea'and saw through each boundary line,whereupon, thearea bounded "by the blades can be lifted out and replaced as desired.

It'will be seen that a guide'passage for the blade mustf'for satisfactory operation, constrain thecutting direction thereof so that it may only move outwardly through the cast and not inwardly into the flesh within the cast. It is also essen- Previous guide did not provide anadequate guide for the cutting "member." For example, a single flat strip having no lateral guide members would be flexible but "would not prevent the blade from cutting side- "ways ofi the strip andthence into the body. On

"the other'hand, channel-shaped metal guides having continuous side walls are'relatively rigid and hence tend to bridge over concave portions "certain points hence concentrating the pressure and causing irritation at these points. vention overcomes all of the just-mentioned diffi'culties' by providing a completely flexible flesh protective and guide means which nevertheless My inassu'res positive grinding of the blade and protection of the patient.

As previously stated, one of the chief advantages in my invention resides in the fact that the blade passage and its flesh protective strip are integrally formed with the plaster cast and have sufiicient flexibilityin their original state that they may be bentaround relatively sharp corners andthe blade operated without fear of cutting into the patient. Furthermore, by having all of the various parts combined in a unitary 0r integral structure and having all the elements therein of a nature to insure a perfect bond between the cutting assembly and the plaster cast, it is unnecessary to press the cutting unit against the bodywithin the cast in order to operate it. If, as is often the case, the swollen and distended condition of the limb within the cast diminishes during convalescense, the cutting device still remainsbonded into the plaster cast and does not fall away therefrom as has been the case with previously used devices of this nature. Thus, it

will be seen that my device can be operated to remove the plaster cast with a, minimum of discomfort to the patient.

While the form of my invention shown and described herein is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages heretofore stated, it is to be understod of course that it is merely illustrative of the broad features of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cast cutting device which includes: a longitudinally extending flexible abrasion resistant, flesh protective strip; a plurality of guide members formed in said strip projecting upwardly therefrom, longitudinally spaced from each other and arranged in two laterally spaced rows, whereby to form a passage along the upper face of said strip; a second flexible strip supported on the upper ends of said guide members and extending longitudinally above said passage to cover and enclose the same; and a blade disposed within said passage and adapted to be reciprocated longitudinally thereof.

2. A cast cutting device which includes: an underlying flexible flesh protective strip; 'a housing formed adjacent the upper face of said strip along its length, said housing comprising a plurality of separate upturned members formed in said strip, said members being longitudinally spaced from each other and arranged in a pair of laterally spaced rows to define a longitudinal passage therebetween; a strip of adhesive tape disposed beneath said protective strip with its adhesive face in contact therewith and its edges extending beyond the sides of said protective strip; a layer of gauze overlying said passage, and adhesive tape and extending beyond the sides of the latter; and a flexible blade disposed in said passage for longitudinal movement there- 3. A surgical appliance which includes, in cornbination: a surgical cast; and means embedded in said cast for severing it which comprises a flexible flesh protective strip adapted to resist abrasion with a blade receiving housing formed on its upper face, said housing comprising a plurality of separate upturned members formed in said strip, said members being longitudinally spaced from each other and arranged in a pair of laterally spaced rows to define a longitudinal passage therebetween, and a strip of fabric overlying said passage and bonded to the inner face of said cast by the natural adhesive characteristics of the material of said cast.

4. A cutting device adapted to be embedded in asurgical cast and bonded thereto which includes: a flexible flesh protective strip adapted to resist abrasion and to follow the contours of a body member within said cast; upstanding portions formed in said strip and projecting away from said body, said upstanding portions being alternately disposed along the edges of said protective strip whereby to form a centrally disposed passage along a face of said strip opposite a body-adjacent surface; a bonding layer disposed across the outer ends of said upstanding portions whereby to cover said passage; a flexible cutting blade disposed within said passage and adapted to be reciprocated longitudinally thereof; and a bonding medium applied to said protective strip and said bonding layer whereby to integrally bond said bonding layer and said protective strip.

5. A cutting device adapted to be embedded in a surgical cast: a flexible flesh protective strip adapted to resist abrasion and to lie adjacent to and follow the contours of a body member within said cast; upstruck ear portions formed in said strip and projecting outwardly from said body member, said ear portions being alternate- 1y disposed along the edges of said strip whereby to form a centrally disposed passage therebetween and along a face of said strip opposite a body-adjacent surface; a length of adhesive tape disposed between said body member and said strip with its adhesive face in contact with the latter and its edges extending beyond the sides thereof; a gauze ribbon disposed across the ends of said upstruck portions and in contact with said adhesive tape with its edges extending beyond the sides of the latter; a bonding medium applied to a portion of said ribbon to cause it to adhere to said, protective strip and to render said portion of the ribbon impervious to the material of said cast; and a flexible cutting blade disposed within said passage and adapted to be reciprocated therein whereby to sever said cast.

CHESTER E. WAXLAX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 626,621 LHoir et a1. June 6, 1899 1,967,888 Kearsley July 24, 1934 2,187,175 Prosperi Jan, 16, 1940 2,299,125 Brinkman Oct. 20, 1942 2,342,695 Rinaldy Feb. 29, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 41,720 Switzerland Nov. 27, 1907 72,145 Austria July 25, 1916 471,676 Germany Mar. 12, 1927 

